Las Vegas Grand Prix practice cancelled in farcical start to F1’s newest race

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The Las Vegas Grand Prix's first practice was cancelled on Thursday night because a drain cover on the track was loose. The start of the race had a comic and absurd tone.

F1's latest competition had just started for a short while when Carlos Sainz's vehicle came to a halt on the extensive stretch of the Vegas strip.

Watching the footage again reveals that his Ferrari vehicle was traveling at a speed exceeding 200 miles per hour when it drove on top of an unstable drain cover. This caused the driver from Spain to swerve to the side and come to a halt. The car's floor received extensive damage as a result.

During the opening minutes of the session, more than one drain cover on the track came loose. As a result, a red flag was thrown and the stewards declared that the session would not resume. It has been reported that all drain covers around the 3.8-mile circuit will need to be checked again before cars can continue on the track.

Currently, there is a rush to resolve the problem on the surface. The FIA stated that the second practice would not start at the initial time of midnight (8am GMT) due to the issue. They later declared that they plan to recommence operations at 2am local time (10am GMT).

The FIA declared that after an examination, it was found that the solid structure around a lid for a hole in the ground has deteriorated.

We have to inspect all the remaining manhole covers which will require a significant amount of time.

We are going to have a talk with the engineering team in the area about how long it will take to fix the issue, and we will let you know if there are any changes to the schedule.

The FP2 session that had to be rescheduled might last for a longer period of 90 minutes if the necessary technical tasks are finished.

During a heated outburst at Formula 1, Fred Vasseur, the head of Ferrari, condemned the occurrence as "inappropriate."

The initial session of the Las Vegas Grand Prix had to be called off because there was an issue with a drain cover that was not properly secured on the track.

covers. The incident occurred during a practice session for the upcoming Grand Prix. Sainz's car hit a manhole cover, causing damage to the front of the vehicle. As a result, he had to stop on the side of the road and wait for assistance. Despite the setback, the team is confident that they will be able to make the necessary repairs to get Sainz back in the race. The incident serves as a reminder of the hazards that professional drivers face while competing at high speeds on challenging courses.

Vasseur declared that Sainz will absolutely not participate in the second practice, if it occurs on Friday.

Alpine additionally disclosed that Esteban Ocon's car framework will undergo modifications as it sustained damage from the drain cover.

The beginning of the race weekend for Formula 1 has been extremely disorganized. They are the only ones responsible for organizing the initial race on the streets of Sin City.

The audience present in the stands booed as soon as they heard the announcement over the public address system that the session would be canceled.

An incident with a manhole happened in Azerbaijan back in 2019. George Russell was practicing in his Williams car when it was damaged after driving over a drain cover in Baku.